Flores: The Dodgers Have Questions Of Their Own To Answer

The Los Angeles Dodgers started 35-25 this season. Most MLB teams would be more than happy with that, but a funny thing has happened over the last three weeks: the Dodgers are suddenly unbeatable.

Well, more or less. Los Angeles (51-27) is 16-2 since June 7 and now has the best record in the National League – and the second-best record in all of baseball.

When it’s all said and done, will the Dodgers be the best team in the NL at the end of the season?

“I think so,” MLB Network host Robert Flores said on CBS Sports Radio’s The DA Show. “They do have some questions that they have to address, but I think that those questions deal with their starting rotation. Who’s going to be behind Clayton Kershaw? It seems like the Dodgers have 13 starting pitchers, but a lot of them have question marks.”

Kershaw, who has been his usual dominant self, leads the team in wins (11), ERA (2.47), and strikeouts (123), while Alex Wood is 8-0 with a 1.86 ERA. The injury to Julio Urias, however, will likely be felt later this season – and perhaps in the postseason. The 20-year-old will miss 12-14 months recovering from shoulder surgery.

“I think they had big plans for him,” Flores said. “Granted, he was hurt while he was in the minors, but they were putting him down at the minor league level to manage his innings and they expected him to be a big part of their plans in September and October in the postseason. So I think that is going to loo larger as the season wears on.”

Urias’ injury makes a deadline deal for the Dodgers all the more likely.

“Look, they have the resources, (and) they have talent,” Flores said. “If they need to make a deal for a Chris Archer – provided the Rays still aren’t in the mix – maybe (Jose) Quintana, maybe Sonny Gray, they’ll be in on those discussions when the time is appropriate.”